Stuff and Things

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Are B-Girlz the female equivalent of a Beta Male? If we're talking China Glaze's B-Girlz then no, it's not.

I'd planned at least one post for the weekend but after I removed Bad Kitty topped with ChG's white crackle (which, BTW, was terrible to remove. Hence the name Bad Kitty. The sparkle was awesome under the crackle though!):

Death grip on the steering wheel!

I'd planned on using OPI's Go On Green! with a layer of OPI's turquoise shatter. It was Sunday night, we were gearing up to watch "Toy Story 3" as punishment to our child ("the teddy bear freaks me out, Mom"), and I totally banged up the GOG. Then I tried applying the shatter without the aid of my Ott light and I put it on too thick. It didn't shatter well and I was left with a goopy mess.

Yesterday morning I had a 10:00 AM appointment with the best hairman in the world (or at least in Norfolk). I couldn't see him with skanknailz! Knowing that matte finishes are quick driers I slapped a coat of Zoya's Lolly on my nails. What an utter fail. I had a divet in one nail, bald spots on another nail, and my left thumbnail was all banged up at the tip. I guess I need more practice with mattes. They are utterly unforgiving. I should've taken a picture so you could mock me.

Oh, and I'm up to 172 bottles of polish. It makes it interesting to figure out what's going on the nails. I thought about slapping Zoya's Midori on, a brilliant green with a golden swirl. Or that China Glaze I got for my birthday, L8R G8R, another green with that awesome linear holo. Instead I reached for ChG's B-Girlz:

It's a true pink with a hint of blue shimmer that didn't translate onto the nail. However, after two piss-poor mani's B-Girlz was a dream. Two coats and a slather of Seche Vite later, I was good to go. It dried quickly so I didn't bang it up while playing Boom Blox or in the shower.

﻿I wish I could do a better job of cleaning up the cuticles.

If I were to open my own nail salon I'd go exclusively with China Glaze. I find that I'm reaching for it more and more. I have polishes from 69 cent Wet-n-Wild to $14.00 Butter London. I have Sally Hansen's and Black Label OPI's. But China Glaze keeps pulling me back in with their ease of application, variety of colors, and price. I can go to Sally Beauty and pay less than $5.00 a bottle and get a product that will perform like mad.

(Disclosure: This is a new nail blog. I don't get any perks for talking up a product. This is just my opinion.)﻿

If the color wears well today I'll slap a coat of shimmer on tomorrow. It makes taking off polish fun, like counting the rings of a tree. Oh yeah, I put that on Monday night! HA!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Oo, I was so happy yesterday when my order from Head2toe Beauty came in!!! I'd been lemming hardcore China Glaze's Bad Kitty for the name alone. But of course I had to add more colors to the order to make sure the shipping was in line with the product! I ended up with seven new colors.

L-R: Sour Apple, Sunshine, Golden Opportunity, B-Girlz, Rapture, Bad Kitty, and Carnival Lights. Sadly, I knew all the names off the top of my head. Taken under the Ott light.

Oh, Bad Kitty. She's a little bitchy but makes up for it in the Cute Department.

Are you saying I'm a bad kitty? Oh no, Freddie! You're a good kitty!

Samantha? She's a good kitty too!

Now THERE'S a Bad Kitty!

Oh my, the sparkle! Hologlitter suspended in a sheer bubblegum pink. This was three coats and I didn't dare put on any more. I know this crap is going to be hard to remove so I'm going to keep this as my weekend manicure. I'll probably slap a coat of ChG's white crackle on Bad Kitty tomorrow to keep it fresh.

Oh. My. GAWD!!! The sparkle, it kills me! Om nom nom!

I only used one coat of Seche Vite but it really could've used another. It's rather bumpy but I didn't want to get caught painting my nails at my desk. Good grief, my hands are all veiny! Blerg!

This was my first order with Head2Toe and I must say I was pleased with the delivery time and pricing. The glitters were $3.50 and the shimmers were $3.00. Shipping was just over $10.00 and there's a 5% off coupon code for May. Overall each bottle was around $4.00, not bad for China Glaze or any other brand.

China Glaze has quickly become my go-to polish, even over OPI. The colors are amazeballs and the wear is outstanding!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

For my birthday Tuesday I took myself out for a drive. I went to Kohl's, where the shorts mocked my fat ass (Hello, Weight Watchers!) and Wags, hoping to find some new Sally Hansen's with no luck. I also dropped some cash at Old Navy, mostly on my son because at age 11 he's growing like a weed. Sally Beauty beckoned and after much hemming, hawing, and strolling up and down fondling the Orly's and China Glaze's I finally picked up the gorgeous purple from their Island Escape line, Senorita Bonita. It took seeing swatches online to make me purchase this sassy gal.

Blurred for your protection. Look at that flash! It's orangy-pink!!! Don't look at that thumb nail. It's hideous. Taken under the Ott light.

Look at that GQ polish! She's going to take you to dinner, buy you drinks, and slip a hand down your pants. I am in FLOVE!!! Bonita's such a warm purple, she'll make you breakfast the next morning before sliding between the sheets for more.

Yum! I think she'd taste like a Girl Drink then knock you on your ass. Natural sun from my office window.

Gotta admit, I kept looking at my nails while driving into work this morning. If I keep La Bonita on for tomorrow she'll get a coat of white crackle just so I can see her peeking out at me like the saucy minx she is. But darn it, I have a delivery coming from Head2Toe today with seven more China Glazes!!! What's a polish junkie to do?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Just a quick post but dudes, I had to take a picture of TMI in direct sunlight!

Look at the holo! *swoons, falls over dead!*﻿

Honestly, this polish is blah under office lighting. It really needs the suns light to make it pop like corn!

In other news, Ron got the day off so we went to lunch at the local bigass mall. There's a Blooming Beauty Supply located near Nordstrom and I'm a regular. The sales clerk doesn't know my name but she perked up when she saw me! I don't know her name either but for such a slender woman she has a terrific rack. Anyway, behind the counter were three boxes of OPI's Serena Glam Slam with Rally Pretty Pink and Red and one of them became mine, all mine!

I know Rally Pretty Pink is a dead-on dupe﻿ for Zoya's Faye which I already own. So hey, perhaps if I reach X-amount of followers on Google Friend Connect (hint, hint!) I'll put together a giveaway with Rally Pretty Pink and that extra China Glaze I got, He's Going in Circles.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

So hop into the Wayback Machine with me a few weeks. I'd bid on a small lot of China Glaze polishes from the famous OMG line of 2009. It was for L8R G8R, TMI, and QT with a bonus of He's Going in Circles. I already have that one but hey, bonus holo is awesome! Needless to say, I lost the auction by a whopping 50 cents. Serious, 50 cents. Oh well, chalk it up to karma or whatever.

Fast forward to today...not only is it my birthday (yay me!) it's Maru's birthday too! Yeah, I share mine with Bob Dylan, Priscilla Presley, and John C. Reilly but Maru!!! I stumble downstairs in my PJ's while Ron is getting his coffee, ready to go to work, when he brings me this:

TMI, L8R G8R, QT, and He's Going in Circles

WHOOHOO! He got a Second Chance email on the auction and he bought them for me! And guess what else arrived this afternoon?

An Ott Light!

Yeah, I ordered that for myself. I figure we all can use it for task lighting but this sucker is awesome!

So once I polished my nails with TMI I was going to pop outside to the backyard and take a picture of the yummy holo goodness. However, the summer storms are kicking in hardcore in south-eastern Virginia and it clouded over around 4:00. However, I did take a picture with my Ott Light!!!

Honestly, I think I'm getting better using my left hand to polish! I had more clean-up on my left hand.

Oh, so pretty but I cannot wait until the sun comes back out so I can ooh and ahh at the lusciousness of TMI. I poked around the nets and saw that L8R G8R, that obnoxious chartreuse, got little love the first time around. I'm all about the obnoxious and will wear it with pride!

Well, Polish Fans, I think I'm going for Mexican food for my birthday dinner. It was a nice, quiet birthday with the installation of a new garage door, some shopping at Old Navy and Sally Beauty (more China Glaze, duh!), and getting high on Seche Vite!

Monday, May 23, 2011

I became obsessed with nail polish earlier this year. I don't even know why to be honest. As I said in a previous post I got acrylics done during the holidays, got one fill in January, and since then I let them grow out. I tried soaking them off in pure acetone with little success. Suck it up, Buttercup, because that junk was on there good.

So I started trimming my nails down, filing the tops of the tips down, and sometimes I was able to actually get bits and pieces of that junk off. But I didn't want to see the naked nails. Ugh, gross! I discovered that glitter polishes help hide the growth...Thank you, Katy Perry!

Anyway, I began to haunt my local Sally Beauty and Bloomin' Beauty Supplies, trying to find Teenaged Dream and Ahoy. I began skulking the aisles of Wags and Rite Aid, in search of elusive Wet-n-Wild's, Jesse's Girls, and Maybellines. I got a Zoya account for their awesome promos. And my collection grew to the point I needed a Helmer like All Lacquered Up's. Ron and I loaded up the Kiddo and drove the three hours to IKEA in northern Virginia and I got Helmers!

One of two Helmers. The bottom three drawers drawers are empty. I haz a sad :(.﻿

Top drawer with a lot of Zoya! Pinks, reds, corals, oranges.

Second drawer with blues, purples, greens, and a random yellow.

Third drawer: Effects, holos, shimmers. That random yellow? It sucks. So pretty but a pain in the butt to apply and remove.

﻿I have a ton of Zoya's and China Glaze. Heck, I just placed an order at Head2Toe for old school China Glaze Rapture and of course I had to add six more ChG's to make it worth while! (Bad Kitty will be mine. Even if it sucks the name is full of win) And trust me; there's a lot more now than there was three weeks ago.

Right now my first Helmer is organized by color. But should I do ROYGBIV (Bel, Biv, DaVoe...hahahaha!) or by brand or what? I mean, if I go by brand I could Bel Biv DaVoe that suckah. Or I can just keep it as it is because I have a few random ones from Orly, Nubar, Milani.

I keep a few random polishes on a shelf at my make-up table. I have four of the famous China Glaze holo polishes: He's Going in Circles, Don't Be a Square, Kaleidoscope Him Out, and How About a Tumble. And shortly I'll sing the praises of OPI's Wing It! because it's me in color form. I want to take Wing It! behind the middle school and get it pregnant like corn bread. I think it's surpassed my all-time favorite, OPI's Shoot-Out at the OK Coral. I have that one in Black Label, booyeah!

I'd love to hear your ideas on organization. I have room to grow...we bought two Helmers!

So apparently we're all still here, right? There were no raptor attacks at The Melting Pot Saturday night so we were able to enjoy our melty cheese and chocolate. For that night's manicure I used Wet-n-Wild's Sea of Dreams (you'll need to scroll down to see Miss G's pix). I took pictures with the house camera but failed to upload them because I'm a doofus.

(By the way, I dropped a MASSIVE hint to my husband, Ron Weasley, that I want a new digital camera for my birthday. I mean, they have cute pink and purple ones! Plus I have a lot of travel planned this summer and I would like something a bit smaller than our current camera.)

I think Sea of Dreams looks like a "mother-in-law" color on me. See, this one time I had a Sally Hansen polish in a purple/maroon creme and my sister-in-law said, "That looks like a color Darlene would wear," and I had a headdesk moment. I mean, Sea of Dreams is pretty but now my mind's been tainted. ARGH!

I kept SoD on through yesterday. Ron and I did yardwork so it didn't matter if the polish chipped. However, I'm pleased to report it didn't chip at all! Oh, Seche Vite, I love you so much!

So for today's mani I tried to get my catten, Freddie, to chose a polish for me. He was given the choice of China Glaze's C-C-Courage and OPI's Sparrow Me the Drama. He just layed there with a "Bitch, please!" look on his face.

Are you kidding me, lady? I only came here for tuna juice.

So I tried option #2, putting the polishes behind my back and letting Ron chose. Sparrow it is.

I am so, so sorry for the quality of picture! Even though it's supposed to warm and humid like a wet blanket in the dryer there's a wicked cloud cover and I'm working with crap lighting in my cube.

Sparrow went on fairly well. I had to do two coats and there's a bit of VNL. I'm okay with it though. I'm still getting used to OPI's new brush. It seems so darn fat! Oh, and can you see my thumbnail at the edge? I'm still battling the remains of my foolishness of getting acrylics at Christmas time. I got one fill in January but jeeze, I get freakin' bored getting fills! I'd much rather get a pedicure. I can read a magazine, listen to music, and relax in one of those thrones.

It's a gorgeous color but I'm afraid something is missing for me personally. There's no shimmer, no glitter. I came thisclose to throwing a layer of Orly's Fifty Four (is that the pink shimmer?) but I held strong. Tomorrow, all bets are off!

Friday, May 20, 2011

I know, I know, the nail polish blog world is totally played out. However, I'm hoping to bring a girlfriend from Texas on board so we can share our misadventures with lacquers. If you're looking for someone who gets nifty goodies far in advance of release please check out the blogs on the right. Bloggers like Also Known As and Chloe's Nails get collections far in advance and do a much better job of polishing. Hey, I'm getting better!

My screen name is Hermione because I love Harry Potter. My car's name is Hermione! I love coffee, sushi, Mexican food, kittehs, and beauty stuff. I'm not nearly as thrifty as Nouveau Cheap (who's an absolute gem!) because I can't seem to find the eye shadows or blushers that pique my interests at Wags or Rite Aid. I'm married to a delightful man who puts up with my newish polish obsession. We have an 11 year-old son who gives me grief about all the polishes I leave on the breakfast bar. Hey, I have some good light to polish by at the bar!!! And I have an irrational love for pop music. Right now I'm listening to Kesha Radio on Pandora...and I'll be 43 next week. Mentally I'm 13.

Anyway, to kick off the initial post here's my current mani. I use CND Ridge Out as my base coat because my nails are all ridgy. I'm a sucker for pinks in almost all forms and Piggy Polish's "Beach Break" has micro-holo flecks in a jelly polish. Oh, but I had to go and mess with perfection by layering Milani's "Diamond Dazzle" over the top.

Oh, I threw the China Glaze "108 Degrees" in the picture for good measure. I'm heading to the mall at lunchtime for a fresh pedi. I have Hippy Toes.

Anyway, I think Beach Break would've been better left alone or a thin layer of China Glaze "Fairy Dust" would've looked nice. And I wonder if Milani and Piggy Polish get their bottles from the same supplier because they are identical. I can't find another link between the two polishes (unlike L'oreal owning Essie and Coty owning OPI and Sally Hansen).

And here's the glitter bomb results! Wow, I really need to learn how to polish better. It looks perfectly fine to the naked eye but the iPhone? Oh hell no! I haven't mastered the art of the cuticle clean-up. I have a slanted artist brush I picked up at Michael's, looks like an eyeliner brush, for clean-up and I know I picked up stray polish!

Because I don't have a light box (and probably won't get one anytime soon) I used the natural morning light pouring into my cube at work. Until I get a better camera to carry around I'm using my iPhone for pix.